The invention relates to a tandem warhead equipped with two identical piezoelectrical percussion fuses, one for the preliminary charge and the other for the main charge wherein the charges and the fuses are spatially arranged in a housing so that detonation of the main charge takes place after a delay period.
Tandem warheads are chiefly used to combat targets, for example tanks, which are provided with so-called ERA-boxes. ERA-boxes are explodable bodies or elements which have the job of exploding when struck by a projectile in order to minimize thereby the effect of the projectile.
A tandem warhead, for example, one launched from an antitank grenade launcher, is known from DE-OS 41 30 646 which consists of a preliminary charge and a main charge coupled with spatial separation. The preliminary charge is ignited before the main charge and effects primary damage to the target struck, so that the temporally delayed main charge is fully effective. The ignition of the main charge takes place without contact by way of the preliminary charge, namely by way of light which is generated by the preliminary charge upon its detonation. For this purpose, a photodiode is arranged in the circuit of the fuse of the main charge, the photodiode responding to the light shortly after the detonation of the preliminary charge.
To achieve maximum damage to the target struck, the main charge must be ignited after an accurately established time after the detonation of the preliminary charge. In DE-OS 41 30 646, this is achieved with a delay part or element which is arranged in the circuit of the fuse of the main charge.
DE-OS 39 42 841 also describes a tandem warhead of the type mentioned above, wherein the main charge has a piezoelectrical percussion fuse. Piezoelectrical percussion fuses essentially contain an electrical transformer (percussion sensor) for generating the ignition voltage and a detonator. The ignition voltage for the detonator arises when, upon striking a target, a shockwave strikes the contact sensor. Piezo-elements are used as sensors. In such devices, the ignition of the main charge does not takes place accordingly without contact.
The manner of functioning of a piezoelectrical contact fuse is described, for example, in German Patent No. 1 145 522 or U.S. Pat. No. 2,894,457.